Inkling
by ncfan
Summary: -Shinji x Hiyori- You'll never fall without me hearing. Spoilers for 377 and 383.


**Characters**: Shinji, Hiyori**  
Summary**: You'll never fall without me hearing.**  
Pairings**: Shinji x Hiyori**  
Warnings/Spoilers**: Spoilers for Fake Karakura Town arc; spoilers for chapters 377 and 383**  
Timeline**: Fake Karakura Town arc**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Bleach.

* * *

It's a simple and undeniable fact of the universe: Whenever Sarugaki Hiyori falls, Hirako Shinji is just a step behind ready to catch her.

It's how it's always been, since the day they first met: _Hiyori is still a student at the Academy and Shinji has been the captain of his division for about fifteen years. She's walking on a brick wall and he's hiding from his lieutenant (not Aizen)—and the paperwork—in a tree. Hiyori loses her balance and Shinji, seeing her, hops down from the branches and grabs her around the waist before she can hit the ground. Of course, one kick to the face and one broken nose later, and Shinji rather wishes he had just let Hiyori split her head open on the stone walkway._

Somehow, Shinji's always around to catch her.

Hiyori doesn't know why—part of her isn't sure it _wants_ to know why. Personally for her, a lot of the time it's really, really annoying (_"Damn it, Shinji, will you just leave me alone? I can take care of myself!" "Okay, okay! Sheesh, I was just trying to help!"_), the main annoyance in a life that is to Hiyori full of annoying things. Just another thing she shouldn't have to put up with.

But Shinji won't stop. He's stubborn, he's mule-headed like Hiyori is, and it will take more than a sandal to the face or a threat on his life to just let Hiyori go rocketing down to earth like a shooting star without running out with his arms outstretched to catch her.

Shinji isn't even sure why he always runs out to catch Hiyori when she falls, even though she doesn't want him to. He doesn't have an inkling of why he should still worry when Hiyori insists that she wants to take care of herself without his interference.

And Hiyori has never once appreciated it.

Except for that one time.

_It's winter and Hiyori can well believe it—everything's getting so cold and dark all around her, like she's been put in a meat locker, the light's been turned off and the door's locked. In this miasma of coldness and pain (sheer, utter agony), Hiyori can't register much. She's not sure what it means that she suddenly feels much lighter than normal, but she knows it can't be anything good._

_Breathing's getting harder. In a vicious, almost animal fashion Hiyori tries to force breath up from her lungs, tries to force herself to keep breathing because she knows she has to._

_Because, as much as Hiyori hates, despises, _loathes_ the empty farce her life has become, she doesn't want to die. She'll keep saying "Screw you" to the universe for as long as physically possible, and living when every possible power on Earth seems to want her to die is a really, _really_ effective "Screw you"._

_But nothing doing. Despite (or perhaps because of) Hiyori's struggles, breathing becomes more labored with each passing second. Everything she can hear seems like she's swimming in a pool and someone's having a conversation above the surface of the water. Distorted, garbled._

_And then, she's aware of something else. Of a sharp shout, and when Hiyori lifts her head a little bit, she sees a familiar pair of eyes._

_Shinji's caught her again. Stupid, stubborn Shinji. The look of worry in his eyes is jarring and painful, his agony and anguish transferring to her seamlessly. The color's drained out of his face as though he's a slaughtered pig someone's hung up by the ankles to let the blood drain out from the gash in the throat._

_For once, Hiyori's glad he caught her. At least, if she dies, the last thing she sees will be someone's face, and not just the soulless, empty stretch of glass gray sky above her. She'll be able to catch a peak at his soul through his eyes, one last time._

_He's saying something. Hiyori watches with dim fascination. Watches Shinji's lips form syllables that she feels like she should know, but are instead alien to her. She hasn't the faintest inkling of what he's saying._

_Everything's going dark, black and fuzzy. Feeling tired, sleepy, Hiyori starts to close her eyes. It will just be a short nap, she tells herself. Nothing more than a brief sleep._

_Shinji…_

_He caught her again. Just like always._

_And maybe, that was what Hiyori was waiting for._

_To be caught._

_To be saved._


End file.
